2008.05.23 01:00 - Heian Kimonos

Table of contents

No headers

Pema was the Guardian for the session and the comments are his.

That morning, at 1 am, I met Joseph and Vera, when I rezzed into SL in front of my house.

joseph Ruhig: Hello, Pema!!!
Vera Jonson: hey there
joseph Ruhig: how are you?
Pema Pera: I’m fine
Pema Pera: Hi there!
Pema Pera: Hi Vera!
Vera Jonson: wanted to ask you something pema it’s you choice and you’re students to input into it
joseph Ruhig: I have to ask.. Yre you “he” or “she”?
Pema Pera: sure, please go ahead!
joseph Ruhig: wir sehen uns spät!
Pema Pera: well, the answer you can find out very easily by clicking on my profile
joseph Ruhig: ok..
joseph Ruhig: :-)
Pema Pera: I am Piet Hut
Pema Pera: a “he” :>)
Pema Pera: astronomer, from Holland, now working in the US
Pema Pera: Do you know how to click on a profile?
Vera Jonson: you see i’m going around the ochyas and offering people
the possibility to contribute into having kimonos made and put into a
shop of the traditional to the unorthodoxy to bizarre
joseph Ruhig: yes.
Vera Jonson: so one of these places was my stop
joseph Ruhig: so. I´m going, friend
joseph Ruhig: bye!
Pema Pera: By Joseph
Vera Jonson: byes

Joseph left, and Vera and I talked a bit more.

Pema Pera: Vera, are you interested in things Japanese?
Vera Jonson: yes which is why i’m doing this
Vera Jonson: well the unique kimono ideas that is ^^
Pema Pera: sounds fascinating!
Vera Jonson: have you had any ideas you wanted to contribute so far i have one female one and one furry neko one
Pema Pera: oh, I don’t know much about kimonos . . . .
Pema Pera: . . . but I would love to have a kimono from way back when
Pema Pera: from Heian jidai
Pema Pera: the Heian period
Pema Pera: in Kyoto, 800 - 1200
Pema Pera: very different from later kimonos we normally associate with Japan
Vera Jonson: i see hmm
Pema Pera: do you know what they look like?
Vera Jonson: hesian period you say?
Pema Pera: Heian
Vera Jonson: heian oh
Pema Pera: before samurai, before tea ceremony, before zen
Pema Pera: a part of Japanese history most people know little about
Pema Pera: fascinating time though
Pema Pera: women could own property
Pema Pera: lived in their own houses
Vera Jonson: sounds like you might have something sl has neglected
Pema Pera: (^_^)
Pema Pera: Did Joseph bring you here?
Vera Jonson: nope like i said earlier this was one of my stops as i go around the ochyas
Pema Pera: ah, and Joseph just happened to be here?
Vera Jonson: yup
Pema Pera: Sorry, I just logged in, this is my little hut here
Pema Pera: and I found both of you, so didn’t know the context

I mentioned our PaB activities.

Vera Jonson: nice ^^
Pema Pera: oh very simple
Pema Pera: we have large plans to make a forest
Pema Pera: spanning many sims
Pema Pera: parts of a dozen sims
Pema Pera: with various buildings
Pema Pera: ponds, rivers, retreat huts
Pema Pera: It is part of an activity called “Play as Being” see http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Vera Jonson: never heard of it
Pema Pera: it’s new ;>)
Pema Pera: we started last month
Pema Pera: here in Rieul
Pema Pera: The basic idea is to explore reality
Pema Pera: in new non-traditional way
Vera Jonson: you could try for rainforesty kind of
Pema Pera: borrowing from contemplative approaches, such as Buddhism, but not restricting ourselves to any particular approach
Pema Pera: sure
Pema Pera: we have bits and pieces of land
Pema Pera: all the way from here to the sea in the West
Vera Jonson: do you have any furry students or do you allow any?
Pema Pera: were we may plant a Mangrove forest
Pema Pera: we allow anyone and everyone
Pema Pera: unless they bother others, of course — no griefers ;>)
Pema Pera: actually, we get together every day
Pema Pera: four times a day
Pema Pera: every four hours
Pema Pera: 1 am 7 am 1 pm 7 pm SL time
Pema Pera: which happens to be right now
Pema Pera: so I will walk over to the tea house where we meet
Pema Pera: if you like to keep talking, please come along, it is just around the corner

We both walked over to the tea house, a mere 150 meters or so. We found the tea house empty.

Vera Jonson: maybe everyone is sleeping?
Pema Pera: please make yourself comfortable!
Pema Pera: yes, I think many people are sleeping
Vera Jonson: ah well
Pema Pera: we have a system in which we make sure that at least someone is here each time, during the four slots each day
Pema Pera: it is my turn right now
Vera Jonson: have to take care of rl first before second life
Vera Jonson: no sense in hurting yourself but i do appreciate someone being here
Pema Pera: hurting yourself? in what way?
Vera Jonson: staying awake too late or eyestrain XD
Pema Pera: oh, haha, I am in Japan right now, in Kyoto
Pema Pera: I will go to dinner soon
Pema Pera: so no problem :-)
Vera Jonson: near harajuku japan?
Pema Pera: no, Harajuku is in Tokyo in RL
Vera Jonson: ah
Pema Pera: And Kyoto, where I am now in RL, is a few hundred miles away
Vera Jonson: x_x
Pema Pera: Have you been in Japan?
Vera Jonson: no but i would LOVE to go someday =(
Pema Pera: I’m sure you’d like it, yes
Pema Pera: I come here every year for my work

I gave a brief summary of Play as Being.

Pema Pera: by the way, what we are doing in the group of people who gather here, a few dozen people in total who come regularly
Pema Pera: is that we try out some very very short type of mediations
Pema Pera: 9 seconds each time
Pema Pera: once every 15 minutes
Pema Pera: for a few hours each day in RL
Pema Pera: and then here in SL we talk about our experiences
Pema Pera: see also my blog http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/
Vera Jonson: if you would like to submit you’re heian unique kimono as
a notecard feel free to do so everyone is welcome to sumbit stuffs and
if you feel so inclined you may send a bulletin to you’re group
Vera Jonson: ok?
Pema Pera: Well, I am not quite sure how to describe it
Pema Pera: there are many ways to go about it
Pema Pera: and many different styles . . . .
Pema Pera: .. . . . if you do a google on Heian you will get the idea, I’m sure

We talked about various other aspects of Vera’s adventures, and then it became time for me to leave.

Pema Pera: I have to be off to dinner now, in RL, here in Kyoto
Pema Pera: Feel free to drop by here, whenever you like
Pema Pera: this is the most quite time
Pema Pera: at 7 pm SL time, there are often 6 to 10 people or more
Pema Pera: all very friendly :-)
Vera Jonson: i found some heian kimonos do you have an email i could send them to
Pema Pera: sure, piet@ias.edu
Pema Pera: also on my web site, which is listed on my profile, and also on our http://playasbeing.wordpress.com/ web site
Pema Pera: see you, and good luck with your kimonos!
Vera Jonson: if you would still like to send a kimono idea in or can feel free
Pema Pera: okay, will do!
Pema Pera: take care!